Disassembly Required
by Lou.Vide
Summary: She supposed his cause was just, but there was madness in his path as well. Yet she would support him, follow him.
1. Chapter 1

_Disassembly Required._

_prologue._

he supposed there were the typical humans who grew to become afraid of the dark, of the quiet alleys and dilapidated buildings; then there were those who would always swallow naiveté like a pill. As if the ignorance it came with would keep them safer – _alive. _

Ayato supposed he preferred the latter to the former.

Emerging from the shadows of said crevices, he watched as his prospect of a victim scurried across the empty road with a head turning left and right every two seconds in undisguised fear. There was nothing particularly distinct about the girl; dressed in a typical navy blue high school uniform with a bag tightly pressed to her side, her whole disposition spoke "unimportant" and "eat me." Not one to drag out his hunger, he crossed the road that separated them with unrivaled speed.

The girl whipped around, wide eyes framed with short lashes and lips already parted in what he thought to be a scream. He couldn't really tell because before he knew it, her hair had followed the sudden movement and the ends of the strands had effectively hit his face. There was no doubt about it. Death was twisting his face.

"I – I'm so sor – sorry!"

Slowly, his eyes opened again and narrowed at the girl. His kakugan weren't concealed and while they were mainly out to convey his irritation, what he didn't expect was for her to suddenly bring up a bout of courage and throw her bag at him. Suffice to say, he easily deflected the purse to the side while his other arm stretched out to capture the offender in a vice grip.

To her credit, she struggled, but it was futile and together, they ended the night bathed in blood.

"Aw, she was supposed to be mine, Ayato-san," a ghoul transpired behind him as he finished the last bits of the corpse's flesh. The said boy didn't bother to offer one of their organization's newest recruits a reply and wiped the blood off his fingers with the girl's skirt.

"Should have claimed her faster, Owaka-kun." Another commented from his side.

"But Ayato-san will always be faster than me!" the ghoul despaired, throwing his arms around his companion. Forced to bear the sudden weight, the other ghoul turned to the dark haired boy, as if to implore for help, but before words could seep past his thin lips, he was silenced with a glare.

"See! Ayato-san's so mean too, what can I –"

"Quiet."

Before them was a slow driving car. The windows were tinted and so, with nothing to lead them on, the three ghouls quietly tensed up for a prospective fight. However, nothing of the sort occurred. The car remained in it's slow pace, not showing any inclination of releasing any of its occupants nor stopping by them. Soon, it disappeared into the horizon.

Owaka sighed, throwing all caution aside and leaning heavily on his dear companion. "My heart was about to burst! Here I am thinking the CCG –"

"Would you shut up?!"

* * *

><p>"…how long has this been going on?"<p>

"Pardon, miss?"

"The constant killings, excessive ghouls…_that thing that we just witnessed?" _

The private taxi driver hummed to stall the silence. His customer was young, yes, but she was also new and while he believed in preserving innocence and good, he also knew the chances of her surviving in Tokyo informed and updated would be better.

"For quite awhile their activity has risen, but rest assured we have the CCG –"

"I know who they are," the dark haired girl cut off. "I'm not so foreign to all this."

"Then if you don't mind me asking, why did you come back?"

The young woman shook her head and tore her eyes away from the windows. While she had desensitized herself to gore, she had yet to become accustomed and accepting to it being so common to her part of the world. "A relative of mine lives here," she answered. "You can drive faster now. Thank you for…letting me see that."

"As you wish, miss."

Yari let out a breath as the passing buildings quickly became a blur to her vision. She welcomed the sudden rainbow of neon lights before her and allowed their vibrancy to chase away the darkness that had previously clouded her mind.

Having been absent from Tokyo for a good eight years, she let her thoughts wander over to better memories. To her dear family and friends. She wondered if they were all still fine and if their letters held true to their wellbeing. Hopefully, she clasped her hands together, all of them were still alive and unaffected from the mess that were ghouls and society in general.

A buzz from her phone alerted her to a new message;

_Araaa!_

_Hurry up grandma! I'm not getting any younger! Sorry I couldn't pick you up today but since you're probably tired from you flight I guess we'll just have to see each other tomorrow. I'll send you the address of the café so you can see Kaneki too! Take care, you old lady!_

"You okay there, miss?"

Dispelling the twitch that had been born from her cousin's endearing nickname for her, Yari nodded her head and returned her phone to her purse. "Just fine," she assured.

The driver cast her a long glance. "If I were to remain honest, I have to say you looked like you were about to kill someone," he commented.

Yari forced out a short bubble of laughter. "Unless your name is Hideyoshi, you have nothing to worry about, sir."

His eyes flickered back to the road, a light like mirth jovially returning to his eyes. "The relative?"

Her lips formed something akin to a grimace. "Sadly."

* * *

><p>AN: new story new story woooo! This is by Louise of by the way so as to not get our stories mixed up. Anyway I practically religiously listen to Unravel but now that I finally have an actual plot to grasp onto I'm gonna listen to or even more. Dont know when the next chapter is coming up but hopefully soon! Hope you like this!


	2. 始まり

_One._

始まり

(_Beginnings.)_

Essentially, the visit was to last for one morning only, and after that, she would presume her trip around the rest of Japan to check up on other family members and do some personal exploration of the some historic regions. _Essentially, _that was the plan. However, her cousin seemed to have had other ideas in mind. Having roused up early in the morning to prepare for the day, she had only gotten out of her bed before her phone was bombarded with Hideyoshi's incessant texts, and before she knew it, her whole day and next two months had been already scheduled out for her. At first, she found his demands endearing, but after the fiftieth message her phone had found a new home in some corner of her hotel room.

"Late! Always late!"

Hazel eyes rose to meet the offending finger brandished at her face. She frowned and pushed it away, dark orbs rediscovering a new object to focus on. "Hide, it's been awhile." The said boy enthusiastically vocalized his agreement and quickly dragged her to the table he had jumped away from. "Come, come, Kaneki is here too! Actually, he –"

"Works here," Yari cut off as she and Hide finally got to the boy's table. Her eyes rounded in quiet disbelief at his current disposition. Almost instinctively, her hand reached out to him causing Kaneki to freeze as it came closer to his face. "You," she said, and before he could stop her, Yari flicked him on the forehead. "When will you ever start taking better care of yourself?" she snapped, pulling back her arm to smooth out the wrinkles that had settled on her skirt.

"I – it's nice to see you again, Yari-chan," Kaneki replied, a light dust of pink flustering his whole visage. He rose up from his chair, fully revealing his working uniform as he reached out to gather his and Hide's empty cups. "Would you like anything?" he questioned.

The intensity in Yari's eyes had yet to lessen, but as he offered to take her order, she found the fight in her diminished and so, she settled her hands back into her lap. "Whatever this idiot was drinking, I guess." She answered, igniting a new flame in her cousin's chest. Rising again from his chair, his finger returned to her face as he yelled at her refrain from calling him names. It had only been "eight years, and you could be more decent to me for being gone for so long!"

Kaneki inwardly chuckled as he left the duo in favor for a calmer venue with his fellow workers. Dropping the dirtied cups into the sink, he ventured further into their work area for a newer cup before being stopped by a calloused hand. "Who is she, Kaneki?" Nishiki asked, eyes having yet to stray from the rambunctious table. Kaneki's own line of vision traveled to follow his before another small smile teased its way onto his lips. A memory of round faces and placid days overtook his thoughts. For a while, he played with the possibility of returning to such days, but then he proposed he was wishing for the impossible. So he focused on the steaming liquid in front of him; "Yari-chan? She's Hide's cousin."

"Cousin, eh?" he quietly repeated to himself as he reverted back to wiping some mugs clean.

"That man's been scrutinizing me."

Hide's eyebrows perked up as he took a conspicuous scan of the café. Despite it being early in the morning, there were actually a few more customers loitering about with their own energizing drinks in separate corners. However, none of them appealed to Yari's description of 'scrutinizing.' Well, there was, "Nishio-san?" Hide asked, returning his attention to his relative. "He goes to the same university as Kaneki and me, but he's two years ahead – around your age I think. He's not bad," he drabbled.

"Well staring is considered rude in many countries, anyway –"

"Here's your drink, Yari-chan," Kaneki cut off, settling a warm cup of coffee right under her nose. She sent Kaneki a quiet thanks as her fingers slowly enveloped the hot porcelain; the tension in her body almost appeared to dissipate into thin air as the thin ivory digits intertwined at the center. She took a quick sniff of it and sighed, eyes automatically fluttering shut.

"I think she's in love," Hide whispered just a bit too loudly at his best friend. The boy merely laughed in reply as a swell of pride inflated his chest; he'd been working hard to perfect his technique and blends.

"Kaneki," her voice rang out, disrupting their mirth. "What has happened to you?" she asked, nodding off to his eye.

For a moment, he paused and wondered if it was too late to suddenly turn mute. Kaneki was tempted to lie, to actually dive into his previous thoughts of jumping back into the time before she had left them, before he had become something else, before he – he shook his head. "Just a small accident, Yari-chan." He assured her.

Both relatives' spines snapped just a bit more straight. "Small?" Yari's quiet voice repeated over Hide's exclamation. Kaneki's only visible eye crinkled. "Well, maybe not small but it's already happened. I'm fine now, so please don't worry about me," he said.

Yari smiled, albeit it contradicted her furrowed eyebrows. "Don't worry? That's my job, Kane-kun. I'll always worry for you and this idiot," she shot her hand out to cover Hide's mouth to prevent him from interrupting her. "But yes, it has happened already so just be more careful now for me, and Hide? You're almost late for school." She noted as she drew her palm back. The man jolted from his chair.

"Yosh! I almost forgot, thank you Yari-chan! Pay for me will you?" Hide implored as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. Scrambling for the door, he almost missed the fact that it was close before turning back and waving farewell at his two precious people. "See you both later!" he exclaimed before departing.

"My, that boy…" Yari trailed off. She glanced at her watch again before facing Kaneki. "When does your class start?" she asked.

"Sometime in the afternoon," and, seeing the almost empty cup in front of her he wondered, "Will you be staying long, Yari-chan?"

The young woman shrugged. "Hide won't have it otherwise, but I don't mind. Will you accompany me to the bookstore one day soon, Kane-kun? I'm afraid I haven't been caught up with anything these days."

Kaneki waved a palm in the air. "I wouldn't mind that, sure, Yari-chan."

Yari beamed. "Thanks, anyway I should go now too – have to find more permanent living arrangements and all that fun grown up stuff. Thank you for the drink, Kaneki," she said, taking out a moderate amount of cash. "This should cover for all of us, see you!" and with that, she gave the boy one quick hug before rushing out the door in a hasty manner.

Kaneki could only stare at her disappearing figure with a slow wave before Nishiki slid up to his side.

"So little Kaneki has a date now, hm?"

"Wh – what? N – no I don't!"

* * *

><p>Humming a song she had caught on the radio yesterday, Yari proceeded to travel the streets in a lax fashion. While she was now pressed to look for a new living quarters, she decided that today would not be the day to worry herself with such matters. Instead, she planned on querying about other things instead. On subjects like 'what really happened to Kaneki Ken' and 'who was that dead girl from last night' instead. So she hailed a taxi and asked them to return to the street where the murder bad taken place.<p>

"This is no place for a lady, miss. Should I wait for you?" the driver asked as they pulled into the dark road of the killing. Indeed, while there was still plenty of daylight out in the sky, the overhanging roads and towering buildings around them were secluding most of it from sight. Instead, what remained were filters of light streaming through less than savory cracked windows and cracks.

"If it won't trouble you," she replied, opening the door. She heard a faint "no" before she left the safe confines of the car and sauntered over to the bloodstained sidewalk. There was hardly anything left save for a trail of blood leading to an alleyway and a purse haphazardly discarded against the adjacent building.

Bending down, she picked the light blue bag up and examined its contents. Nothing was stolen and with the girl's wallet inside, she peeked it open to look for an identification card. _Mizuhara Chikai. _"Rest in peace…" she mumbled before walking back to the cab. She entered it again with the purse and wallet tightly clutched in different hands. "Could we stop by the nearest police station please?"

The driver observed her and the objects in her hands. Then he looked over at the sidewalk she had just abandoned. "You can't be part of the CCG, so…"

"I'm not," Yari confirmed. "But I am responsible for reporting this so if you would please," she gestured at the steering wheel in his hands. "I'd like to leave this area as soon as possible."

"Of course, ma'am."

A sharp whistle pierced the air as two large hands grasped the edges of a crumbling brick building. With ease, they pulled the their owner's body out the tight alley and allowed his head to pop out into the street. The car had long been gone, but with a slight twitch of his ear, he was still able to pick up its engine running a few meters away.

"Coincidence?" his partner questioned, emerging from his own cache.

Owaka shook his head as he wrung his hands together. "Different car but she must be one of the people that was in that creepy one from last night." He stated.

"She smelled like a human…"

"We should tell Ayato-san either way, maybe then," the ghoul pretended to discard a tear off his face. "He'll stop eating my food."

His partner sighed and launched himself towards a higher perch. "Less talk, more working."

Owaka frowned yet followed his lead. He swung himself up to the light post and with ease, they began traversing through the streets in relative quickness.

* * *

><p>Typically, no matter what relation you had with the person, it was considered cordial to warn them or inquire if it was possible to stay at their house for a while; Yari, however, forewent these mannerisms and let her fist heavily knock on Hide's door. He liked her, so he wouldn't reject her sudden appearance. He demanded she stay in Tokyo longer, so he was practically obligated to accommodate her throughout her stay; all these justifications filtered through her head but no matter what her mind plainly set on one – he insisted she stay so stay she would.<p>

"Yari..?"

The said young woman didn't bother to reply as she pushed past him with her luggage trailing behind her. Hide wasn't exactly keen on cleanliness, she had known that from their childhood, but as she glanced around, she began to seriously wonder if he'd ever grown at all from the past; coke cans, books, magazines, and what she prayed to be clean clothes littered the whole living room. Why his boxers had managed to travel so far, she had yet to ask, but she thought it best to keep her words short and sweet.

"This place is a mess."

Hide emerged from the short hallway rubbing the base of his neck. He came to a stop right beside Yari and took the same peripheral scan she had performed not a few seconds ago. Slowly, he began to come to the same realization

"Eh," he dragged out. "It could use some work." He admitted.

Yari quirked an eyebrow as she continued to survey the aftermath of Hideyoshi. "Well I hope that work starts now because I'll be staying here for a while."

"Hm?"

"You've asked me to stay and I will, but I need a place to stay at," she elaborated.

Hide appeared to take a few seconds to connect the dots. When he did, his eyes lit up again before his cheeks were colored a light pink. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Oh…"

He looked at his living quarters again. "I do have room! I have a pull out bed but…" his sight narrowed on the couch hidden beneath the pile of clothes and papers.

"We'll just have a sleepover." Yari concluded, moving past the living room and into his other hallway. Hide trailed behind her as she opened a random door. Fortunately, it led to Hide's bedroom – and even more fortunately, it was actually cleaner than the previous room.

"I guess," Hide spoke from behind her. "It'll be like the old times again, ne, Yari-chan?"

The young woman nodded her head as she stowed her suitcase in a corner of his room. "Exactly, and," she turned around, meeting Hide's inquisitive look with a smirk. "It's not like you've ever managed to have another girl in the same bed, right, Hide-kun?" she asked.

"A – ah! Yari-chan!"Hide shouted, his cheeks growing a brighter red. His outburst, however, remained ignored; she returned to her baggage in search of some pajamas to throw on.

"Don't lie, Hide, I would know. Anyway, at least this means that your bed is free from _cooties" _she teased, enjoying the blush the innuendo had formed on her cousin's face.

* * *

><p>AN: Wow! Thank you thank you so much for everyone who's shown some interest already! I honestly was not expecting any feedback for awhile. Anyway ouch

I hadn't realized going back into writing would hurt so much, I really cringe at this chapter but it was necessary to move things along. Hopefully you guys can excuse the rough edges of it and stay tuned for more! I promise to improve! Thank you for reading again and I hope you all continue to like it!


	3. コーヒー

_Two._

コーヒー

(_Coffee.)_

Mornings were a paradox; they were either a blessing or hell disguised as warm rays of light. _Well, _she thought to herself, _writers always did over romanticize things._ Hovering around the streets of Tokyo, Yari was quite the estranged pedestrian among the black and white suits flittering about hackneyed sidewalks. With no actual motivation dragging her feet anywhere, she was an alien among the bustling office workers and students. _Students._

Instantly, her feet began paving their way towards the quieter districts. Hide had been a mess this morning, rolling over her body as he fought to silence his alarm; he'd lost all proper pretenses as well and had abruptly changed in front of her cloudy eyes. However, that wasn't what had bothered her – it was the lack of caffeine in his home. He had hogged the last cup to himself on his way out to school.

"Nagachika's cousin, right?" Golden brown irises peered out at her from the counter.

Slowly, Yari nodded her head and made her way over to one of the stools. "Kobayama Yari; may I have a mocha cappuccino, please?" she answered, letting her eyes rest on Hide's 'Nishio-senpai.' Following the languid manner in which he moved about to fix her order, she decided that no matter what he said, 'Nishio-senpai' would always remain suspicious in her eyes.

"You could be more conspicuous with your staring, you know?"

Yari narrowed her eyes at the man as he slid her cup towards her. She stopped its momentum with her palm. "Should you be really talking?" she accused, referring to the previous day.

'Nishio-senpai' merely shrugged as he resumed to nonchalantly cleaning the counter. "I have a girlfriend." He interjected just he departed to greet a new customer.

Yari felt her cheeks flare with color as she haughtily chugged down a decent sized gulp. _Poor soul, _she thought in contempt as she sought out something to distract her from her irritation. Stepping in, she had noticed that Kaneki had been absent along with his other distinctly purple-haired coworker. It was a relatively quiet morning as well and there were no magazines around left for the leisure of customers.

Resigning herself to her phone, she swiped in her passcode to check for any updates on her email and her dead ward, Mizuhara Chikai. The police had been very simple and informal with her last afternoon, accepting the report with disturbing ease and commemorating her on her chivalrous efforts in bothering with such a trial. Their lack of reaction was enough to leave her thoroughly concerned on the welfare of Tokyo's standing against the ghouls, and so she demanded that they refer any inquiries made by the CCG regarding Mizuhara to go to her; to that they had easily complied as well.

_New text message!_

She tapped the notification open.

_Sorry about this morning, grandma!_

She sighed and punched in a quick reply before rising out of her seat. Leaving her dues by her empty cup, she headed back into the streets.

Although, that might have been easier said than done as she found herself completely lost within the next two hours. Having been gone for eight years had hindered her memory of the whole city's layout more than she would have liked and it was already bordering lunchtime. If she didn't get to the nearest market soon, not only would she have to face Hide's relentless teasing on her wayward state, but she would starve as well. Forgoing complete meals for two days tended to do that to a person.

Staring at the compact houses lined around her, she wondered how long she'd have to endure appearing like a hopeless tourist before the neighboring inhabitants would come out to take pity on her. Hopefully, soon, but with her luck considered:

"Ah!"

Stumbling forward, Yari twirled around in an attempt to catch herself and the intruder from an embarrassing fall. However, all it had done was drag them both down further in a heap of tangled limps. "I'm so sorry…" she mumbled as she tried extricating herself from their ungainly situation. It only took her a second later to realize that said other person had yet to officially move on their behalf. "Um."

"Are you lost?" his – _he was a boy, right? - _ sudden movement startled her back onto her palms as a pale haired head abruptly rose to her height. Big dark eyes stared owlishly at her, awaiting a reply.

"Y – yeah," Yari dragged out.

"Me too!" and with an effortless grace, had removed himself from the tangle of their bodies. The strange boy stood over her, a somewhat aloof aura surrounding him as he continued his unblinking gaze at her distraught figure.

More than done and at the brink of hunger, Yari pulled herself up – effectively alternating their positions; she shouldn't have felt so content with it, but she found herself easing a bit to see their difference in height.

"Sorry again, I guess I was just spaced out too much," she said. "I didn't hurt…you…" _She did._

Instincts taking over, she reached out for the boy's elbow and pulled his sleeve up higher to see the blood oozing from the blatant injury. She frowned. "You should have said something."

"It doesn't hurt."

With that much blood permeating through the broken skin, she doubted him and wondered how much of the fall he had taken. "You're coming with me," she decided, starting their journey back to what she hoped were the main streets.

The strange boy's eyes twinkled behind her as his free hand rummaged through her wallet. "But aren't we both lost, Stranger-san?" he mused.

By the time they were both seated at decent eatery, it was way past twelve and they were all but famished. The strange boy, who indeed was a boy, had finally introduced himself as Suzuya Juuzou to her minutes into her treatment of his wound. At first, he had actually refused to let her handle such a 'minor' cut, but after discovering that he'd plan on closing it up with a needle and thread – she had all but chained him down to let her treat it.

"It's not safe," she argued as her eyes watched the occasional passerby walk past the glass wall.

Juuzou was swinging his feet and twisting around in his seat next to her. To one particular stranger that stopped to look into the diner, he waved his fingers at before pulling faces on the scandalized consumer. It had taken much persuasion on her half to coax the owner to let them stay for their meals afterward.

He stopped moving to peer at her. "But I do it every day! Even if I don't have a scratch," he replied, stretching out his hand to wiggle his fingers. Yari sighed just as their individual meals were set in front of them. The boy managed to mutter a muddled 'itaki' before diving into his food.

Yari patiently broke her chopsticks apart despite her own apparent hunger before taking one roll into her mouth. Nonchalantly chewing, she kept one eye on Juuzou while the better part of the meal was left to silence as the food effectively sated their stomachs.

"So…full." Juuzou groaned as Yari hauled him through the streets. The said woman hummed in agreement as the final costs of the meal still filtered through her head; the boy had eaten _a lot. _If she kept up this kind of lifestyle with Juuzou occasionally intruding in it, her funds would be empty by the end of next month. She halted at an intersection just as she noticed how dark it was outside. She'd have to be home soon before Hide decided to launch a missing person's report.

"Well, we're back around the busier wards now. Will you be fine on your own from here, Juuzou-kun?" she asked, glancing at a convenience store just a few more blocks down. Maybe she could leave him there while she got a taxi for them…

"Yari-chan, your phone is missing."

Her eye twitched; "Do you have it again, Juuzou?"

The boy grinned up at her. "No! I beat most of your high scores already!"

Yari refused to fall to her irritation and wondered if she had left it at the diner.

"You probably did; I can get it! I'm faster." Juuzou interrupted her thoughts.

Accustomed to his intrinsic peculiarities by now, she merely nodded her head and gestured at the store up ahead. "I'll be waiting in there, I suppose," she caught onto Juuzou's sleeve before he could leave her reach. "Be quick." She added.

He wouldn't – and _didn't – _listen to her.

Thirty minutes had transgressed into forty before she finally braced herself for the night and ventured out of the confines of the store. On her way out, she had traded glances with the clerk and had almost flipped him off for looking at her with such despondent eyes; that was not a way to treat a lady. She wasn't going to die.

She hoped.

"J – Juuzou!" she called out at she wandered over to the back streets. Barely any lights decorated the pavement and Yari found her feet rushing forth towards the small circles of yellow beams for sanctity. In the back of her head, she pondered over the scenario of him simply getting lost again, but that did little to ease her nerves.

And he wouldn't steal her phone anyway; it was locked and he was too simple for that.

"Juuzou!" she hissed just as she spotted the boy meandering out of an alley. His trademark hair shadowed over his face and his hands were casually swung into his pockets as he swaggered towards the opposite direction.

_That brat, _she thought as she surged forward, clearly intent on demanding an explanation from him. "Juuzou!" she shouted again.

He stopped. He had heard her.

Her scowl vanished into a line as she planned on calling out to him once more because he owed her at least that much to _face _her. "Juu –"

"_Ladies."_

Yari's breath involuntarily hitched. She shouldn't have turned her head, but she did. With just mere centimeters of space left between them, scarlet eyes were looking at her. She should run, she told herself. But why did it feel like survival was futile?

A cold hand slithered over to her cheek as it mockingly turned her head back to face Juuzou's lone figure with a tender grace. She gritted her teeth together as two other ghouls jumped down on either side of him; one launching kick at his side.

"Juuzou!"

The leg made contact, yes, but the boy seemed ignorant to the pain resonating throughout his ribs as both hands clasped around the ghoul's calf. This brought them both down on the cement in a scrimmage over dominance as the ghoul relentlessly pounded on Juuzou's back in an effort to pry him off.

"Well don't just stand there!" he yelled at his comrade.

"It's quite amusing though…" he drawled but conceded and unleashed – Yari made a move to jump in and be a distraction or something, but the ghoul beside her would not let go. His grip on her face tightened, his nails drawing blood as he kept her back with his other arm locked around her waist.

"Just watch, little inspector." He said.

_Inspector?_

Yari's time for rumination was cut short just as green spider-like legs seeped out behind the other ghoul's back and surged towards Juuzou and his comrade. She wanted to close her eyes; there was no way Juuzou would have been able to foresee nonetheless evade that – but he did.

With finesse similar to that of a circus performer, he pushed off his aggressor and let the other ghoul impale his friend. "You brat!" he roared as the injured ghoul choked on his own blood.

His arachnid extensions dove for him again and Juuzou continued to maneuver through each attack with ease. It was like a dance, but with less beauty. Yari watched in apprehension just as the thing beside her hissed about how such a loss would not be missed in –

"Owaka! Make it quick!" he shouted just as Juuzou sailed through the air and landed on his opponent's back. His palms quickly covered their eyes, rendering them blind and leaving them to fend him off with directionless stabs. He was being efficient in fighting them off, but with each prolonged second, his body was being sliced more and more by the ghoul.

She wanted to yell, but she couldn't. It would do no good, but she did eventually find her fingers clawing into her captor's arm.

Yet then he had the indecency to yawn and finally grabbed onto an individual extension and drove it through the ghoul. Both bodies fell to the floor, but only one remained there was Juuzou rolled back to his feet and faced them.

Juuzou.

This wasn't the same boy she had doted on this afternoon.

His posture was more lax but his gaze was rigid – _lost. _

Yari already knew he wasn't attuned to everything like a normal human being, but the aura emanating off of him spoke more than of having a few loose screws: which side was truly safe now?

She would try both for the sake of her survival.

Propelling her head back, she smashed it against her captor's to loosen his hold. She managed two steps forward before swiveling around and punching him on his cheek – but the strength was lacking on her part and he simply drove something through her abdomen. She fell back, legs kicking out to at least throw him off balance with her – but it was futile.

Fortunately, awareness on Juuzou had faded and the said boy had managed to gain a jump on him; bashing his head further into the street repetitively. He'd been dead after the first five hits. The actual sound would haunt her for a few weeks, but the image of Juuzou losing himself would forever remain ingrained in her memory.

Arduously, she stood up, and with a trembling hand, she touched his shoulder.

"So did you find my phone, Juuzou-kun?" she asked. He finally stopped moving.

"Because I think we could use a call right now, don't you think?"

* * *

><p>Loud, iridescent lights irritated Ayato. They were growing fainter and fainter as the vehicles owning them drove away, but he swore he'd forever despise them.<p>

Jumping down from his perch, he easily decimated the two lone Doves lingering around the scene before he approached the half-dead ghoul.

Owaka grinned at him.

"Ayato-kun~" he muttered.

His boot-clad foot tore through his trachea.

* * *

><p>A\N: Im actually pretty content with this chapter! Hopefully Juuzou's characterization was okay. I pretty much based it on him never making sense..? I'm planning on going about the manga with this with a few changes that will gradually lead up to something big...of course i might add a few flares from the anime too for the sake of pacing. Anyway thats it! Look out for an update possibly tomorrow or pretty much sometime this week! Thank you for all the support as well! You all deserve coffee!e'd been dead after the first five hits.<p> 


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